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This study aims to analyse a new model to assess the sustainable behaviours, sustainable attitudes and sustainable knowledge on sport practitioners.

This paper employs a scale of 44 items divided into three different dimensions to analyse the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable development on 227 sport participants.

Through this study the authors have been able to obtain a reliable scale that allows us to analyse and the knowledge, attitudes and sustainable behaviours of physical and sports education practitioners.

Both psychometric properties of the initial scale and the differences between studies contexts may affect the results of the present analysis. Therefore, new studies are needed in order to analyse how sport physical activities influence sustainable behaviours among physical activity and sport practitioners.

In this work the authors present a valid and reliable tool for the study of the environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of physical activity and sport practitioners.

Regarding the importance of sport in relation to sustainable development, this work is the first to adapt a scale to the context of practitioners of physical activity and sport in order to improve the understanding of how physical activity and sport affect sustainable behaviours, serving as a starting point for future research in sustainable development sports field.

Adopting the brand resonance approach, this research aimed to reveal the effect of emotional (perceived quality) and rational (brand trust) factors between brand experience and brand loyalty.

This article uses the brand resonance model to examine the above-mentioned relationship. The sample of the study consisted of 385 sports consumers between the ages of 18 and 65 years. An online survey was used to collect data and surveys were delivered to sports consumers via social media. Using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was conducted in this study.

The results support the hypotheses and demonstrate the importance of quality and trust in building customer loyalty for companies in the sports industry. Brand experience has a positive direct effect on perceived quality, brand trust and brand loyalty. It has been revealed that there is an important intermediary role of perceived quality and brand trust that manages the relationship between customers' brand experience and brand loyalty.

The findings of this study are essential for brands that want to develop and are included in the sports industry in the online shopping environment, which increases with the development of technology to create long-term loyalty in customers.

It reveals two mediating roles in the relationship between brand experience and brand loyalty, namely perceived quality and brand trust. These research results help to understand the processes of shaping the loyalty of sports consumers towards sports brands. Unlike previous studies, it examines this relationship in the sports industry by adding new mediator variables and contributes to the development of the model.

The aim of this research is to measure the impact of eWOM (electronic word of mouth) and brand celebrity use on the purchasing behavior of sports consumers.

To test the model hypotheses, sports consumers who use social media and have purchased at least one online sports product were selected as the research group. Online survey method was used, and 836 participants were reached. The model was tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) through smart PLS software.

As a result, the quality, credibility and usefulness of the information consumers encounter on online platforms cause them to adopt information about products or services, and then exhibit online purchase behavior. While the attractiveness and trustworthiness of celebrities are seen as important factors affecting consumers' online purchase of sports products, the effect of celebrity expertise was found to be ineffective in this study.

Marketers can develop more effective eWOM strategies by considering consumers' expectations. Businesses that want to implement an effective marketing strategy may prefer celebrities in product promotions or advertisements of their brands.

This research revealed the effect of eWOM and celebrity endorsement on the online purchase behavior of sports consumers in terms of the sports industry. Unlike previous studies, this study examined these variables together on sports consumers and contributed to the development of models.

The relevance of merchandise for professional football clubs is uncontroversial. Especially the constantly growing e-commerce sales elicits disruptive market changes such as global brand visibility or data-driven customer relationship management strategies. To exhaust these possibilities, it is a precondition that merchandising costumers choose the official online fan shop as the first choice channel instead of a third-party supplier. Thus, the purpose of this study is to figure out if the club as a retailer and the loyalty to a club influence the fans' channel choice when purchasing licensed sports merchandise online.

To do so, a choice-based conjoint analysis for a jersey purchase embedded in an online questionnaire was conducted (sample: n = 589) to investigate the importance of the online supplier, relative to the tangible factors price, shipping speed and free added values and the influence of fan loyalty within the e-commerce purchase channel choice.

The findings reveal that the price has the highest relative importance (47%), but, as a sport specific peculiarity, the relative importance of the online supplier (22%) is higher than added values (20%) and shipping speed (11%). But, these overall findings are significantly affected by the level of fan loyalty. Based on the findings, implications that influence the fans' decision-making practices are derived for clubs.

This study is the one of the first in sports management research, focusing straight on the purchase channel importance (affected by fan loyalty) when purchasing merchandising online.

The main objective of this paper is to shed light on the confusion of terminologies related to open innovation through the development of an open innovation taxonomy. By analyzing published case studies using numerical taxonomy methods, it proposes a taxonomic classification of open innovation.

Earlier work on firm collaboration and concepts related to open innovation in order to understand the main motivations, and conditions behind open innovation‐like strategies is first to be reviewed in this paper. It then proceeds to collect and systematically analyze 20 published case studies, and using numerical taxonomy methods it produces a taxonomic classification of open innovation. As a first approach to taxonomy on open innovation strategies, the UPGMA methodology used seems very promising. The taxonomy of open innovation developed here can also be used as a decision‐making tool through the comparison of open innovation strategies inherent in the taxonomy.

Through the numerical taxonomy analysis the paper has been able to objectively create groups of similar cases, and strategies therein. This paper is able to draw some interesting conclusions by identifying two general strategies of collaboration ‐ a free revealing “democratic” strategy and a formal collaboration strategy. The first involves a proliferation of partners whose technical and creative skills are specific to the industry and the source of knowledge, and where the degree of interaction plays an important role. The second broad strategy of cooperation is linked to more formal collaboration, generally firm‐firm collaboration; in this group a large focus on markets features, especially technological intensity, was found.

This paper adds objectivity to the research of different open innovation strategies by using a method developed in the natural sciences. Based on a systematic review of literature, the paper was able to identify key characters describing features and come up with a taxonomy of open innovation, which goes a significant way towards making sense of the plethora of terminology related to open innovation. Key features of different open innovation strategies are also revealed.

The scope of this study was to underline the specific aspects of positive consumer attitude and behavior related to sports sponsorship. In more detail, the purpose of this study was to establish a comprehensive sponsorship framework integrating Beliefs about sponsorship, Sponsor's Image, Fans' Attachment with the team, Team's Performance, Fans' Sport Involvement, Sponsors' Sincerity, Awareness of Sponsors, Attitude toward Sponsors, Purchase intentions and Actual Purchases.

Quantitative method was utilized and a sum of 2,752 questionnaires were effectively assembled and analyzed by means of SPSS and AMOS. The results of a structural equation model provide an exceptional conceptual framework that underlines the significance of comprehending the role of important factors in sponsorship efficiency.

This paper provides the context for a discussion. It shows that various antecedents have a significant effect on real – instead of just intentions – purchase behavior regarding sponsors' products and services.

Various implications for future researches as well as strategies to boost the advantages for both sport clubs and sponsoring firms can be drawn from the suggested model.

Up to present, only a handful of empirical studies have looked at the effect of sponsorship on the consumer. The majority of sponsorship studies measure the impact of the sponsorship effort on the recall and recognition of sponsors, with empirical results being inconclusive, with some studies showing high levels of recall and recognition while others show only marginal impact on recall and recognition. The present research provides a comprehensive framework, which can guide future studies by isolating the effect of sponsorship on actual purchase behavior, instead of just estimating individuals' purchase intentions.

The aim of this paper is to propose a model for understanding a complex management issue – the customer loyalty in a public sports service.

Customer loyalty is discussed through the methodology of system dynamics. The proposed model considers the dynamic, non‐linear, asymmetric, and reciprocal relationships between its elements, and permits the analysis of the evolution of the system under hypothesized conditions.

The model reproduces historical data of abandonment and consumers' attitude toward the service (ATS). The achieved simulations showed how the future entry of new competitors can severely threaten public service performance. Furthermore, it was also found that the consumers' ATS was not a very good predictor of the consumers' behavior.

System dynamics methodology can also be applied to understand the loyalty in the remaining services offered by the public institution. Other services, such as fitness, aerobics, martial arts, can be analyzed by considering their respective different competitive environments.

The new competitive environment can dramatically affect the number of consumers per year if a public institution does not differentiate its service. In addition, the entry of new competitors will affect the evolution of the system, as the customer satisfaction rates will be modified.

Understanding customer loyalty is one of the most important concerns for academics and practitioners in the areas of management and marketing. The system dynamics approach is an under‐utilized methodology in the field of sports management, which overcomes simplistic linear approaches. The paper shows how system dynamics can provide attractive insights into the field of sports management.

The purpose of this paper is to represent a pilot study which aims to explore the attention to sponsorship variable by assessing the level of congruence linked to both the sponsor and the sponsored entity (sponsee).

This research performed an experiment involving three different sporting activities where the level of congruence was perceived in a different way according to the different attributes of sponsorship message. Electroencephalograms were employed in order to measure reaction times when recognizing and identifying the level of congruence of sponsorship messages. The rate of successful understanding and identification of these sponsorship messages was also measured with this tool.

Incongruent, misfit messages are processed and encoded with a higher level of attention as opposed to the information which is reliable and consistent with prior expectations (congruent pairings). This means that subjects find fit, congruent messages more difficult to identify; in this case the information is poorly encoded and often misunderstood. In relation to attention congruity, this research found no differences across the different sporting activities which were examined.

This research proves that neuroscientific methods can be useful to assess the performance of sponsorship as an alternative to traditional techniques. In addition, this research contributes to the existing debate in the literature regarding the disagreeing results on the actual effectiveness of sponsoring congruent perceived events involving congruent perceived sports teams.

This paper is pioneering in the measurement of sponsorship performance through the use of electroencephalograms. Also, the level of attention is considered as a performance indicator.

The purpose of this study is to empirically identify a coherent set of effectiveness measures, which attempts to accommodate the interests and expectations of the most influential constituent groups directly participating in the operation of the Greek national sports organizations.

The multiple constituency approach to effectiveness provides the theoretical basis for developing the multi‐dimensional measure of effectiveness. A survey design was employed to collect data from 423 respondents from the 20 largest Greek national sports organizations.

The analysis of the results revealed an interpretable set of effectiveness measures consisting of five dimensions, namely calibre of the board and external liaisons, interest in athletes, internal procedures, long‐term planning and sports science support. The results clearly illuminate the effectiveness‐related expectations of the five constituent groups of the particular context and appear consistent with relevant literature deriving from different sectors.

This study broadens both the meaning and the determinants of organizational effectiveness in an under‐researched organizational context, that of the non‐profit Greek national sports organizations. The findings reported extend understanding about how effectiveness can be conceptualized in the particular context based on the multiple‐constituency approach. Evidence is also provided that the particular set of measures has the potential to provide meaningful insights into the content of the interest groups' expectations, in the particular context.

The purpose of this paper is to present the development and validation of the Universal Transformational Management Framework (UTMF), an entrepreneurial tool that guides the development of inclusion-driven strategic management, planning and practice in sport organizations.

A range of qualitative data collection techniques was undertaken in this action research: seven cross-sectoral semi-structured interviews; one focus group with sports professionals; a qualitative survey and research group consultations. A matrix analysis, a thematic analysis and secondary research were undertaken to analyze data.

The UTMF is a staged framework that embeds principles of behavioral, organizational and transformative change theory, guiding strategic development toward inclusion from a contemplation phase toward an action and maintenance stage. The UTMF is composed of 14 fundamental components identified as key areas that sport entrepreneurs should recognize and address for planning and delivering sport services that leave no one behind.

Policy makers, management and sport professionals have at their disposal an inclusion-driven framework that challenges their systems and establish mechanisms to leave no one behind.

Organizational transformation can ultimately produce a contagion effect advancing equality and inclusion in society. The UTMF offers a structure for sport entrepreneurs aiming to facilitate and activate social transformation in and through sport.

The UTMF is a wide-ranging framework to facilitate an orchestrated transformation of sport organizations in order to provide universal services that include marginalized groups and address global challenges identified in intersectional agendas like the SDGs.